But now the judicial review at the High Court in Manchester ruled that the bus service, which was slashed to save the town hall £500,000 from its budget, should come to an end.

Lawyer Mathieu Culverhouse said: “The decision has placed many families in a difficult situation as to how they will ensure that their loved ones will be able to access the vital day centre services they are entitled to.

“We are now determined to investigate every possible avenue in order to ensure that our clients will be able to access the support they require and are considering an appeal of today’s decision.”

The legal team, acting on behalf of Michael Robson from Swinton, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and Jenny Barrett from Salford, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, challenged the decision on the grounds the council did not adequately assess the care needs of the community, failed to provide reasons to demonstrate that the decision was properly considered and they did not meet responsibilities under the Equality Act.

“We have reached agreement on this with the majority of people and will now work with the small number of people still using our buses to reach agreement with them. This includes Michael and Jennifer’s families.”